Impossible Creatures, Chapter Ten, Part Two: Invasion
After the second lab fell they were slowed by a group of komodo-lionesses. Rex, knowing the komodo dragons could regenerate, was ruthless in dealing with them. Every last one was pounded into the dirt before they continued, their ranks buoyed by ever-arriving new creatures. Scorpion-eagles dived on them just a few paces after they set out but the Eeri stood firm, even when the scorpion pincers tore into their rough hides, continuing to fire their electric charges skyward. Rex had never felt so unstoppable. As they charged up a small hill and found more komodo-lionesses waiting Rex roared a wordless challenge at them. Wolf added his voice with a short, fierce howl, and man and beast led the Crocobsters in a charge. Rex had forgotten all about his rifle. Caught up in the heat of battle he had reverted to something as wild as Wolf was at heart. He dodged as one of the lizard hybrids swiped with lion claws. He felt the breeze of it whistle past his nose. Leaping forward like a pouncing tiger, he slammed his clenched fist down on the creature's head. It had the komodo body, which was as long as Wolf form nose to tail, but also the narrow, unprotected lizard head. Rex's incredible punch fractured the beast's skull and it fell back, stunned and thoroughly unworthy for battle. Acting completely on instinct he threw himself at a second monster. It snapped at him but the reptilian head was too slow. Rex landed on its back, locked his left arm around the long neck and yanked upward. Neck broken, it died instantly. Eyes wild, Rex turned to find another creature to attack. Slowly, his senses returned to him. The enemy creatures had all been eliminated. Rex felt slightly puzzled. The battle seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye, spinning by framed with the brilliantly coloured attacks of the Eeri.
"What just happened?" He asked Wolf, who simply looked at him as if nothing unusual had happened. Impatiently, he gave the man's hand a nudge. Rex scratched the back of his head. "Ok, you're right. We'll analyze this later - let's find the third base."
It was just down the other side of the hill. Rex knew they were getting close to the main factory base now - the fourth lab must have landed somewhere on the central western part of the island. Komodo-scorpions, a cross Rex didn't at all like, charged out flaked by several air units. He didn't even have to tell the Eeri to fire up and the Crocobsters to charge in. There were frog-armadillos around the chambers that had good defense but not a great deal of health. Rex, keeping his head for this battle, stood behind the Eeri firing neurotoxin darts. The creatures of the third base put up a good fight, but Rex had too many for them to have much hope.
Lucy was monitoring on the radio and heard the shattering sound of the third lab caving in. "Another lab down! That should make our job easier!"
"How you going down there?" Rex was still slightly weirded out by his feral rage and felt as if he needed to hear Lucy's reasonable, reassuring voice.
"We're being attacked from the air, by creatures coming from the direction of the west coast. But anti-air towers are taking care of them, but I'm repairing them after each attack."
"Good, keep that up. I'm headed for the final base now. Keep building and sending creatures my way - I have a feeling we're going to need them when it's time to assault the factory."
"Will do. Be careful, Rex. Wolf, too."
The fourth base was on the western coast. Rex was unafraid, even though they had more time than the previous labs to build up defenses. He now had a score of Eeri and nine Crocobsters in his force. He had yet to see the army to take THAT down.
They took out the creature chamber, a generator, and the air chamber. Rex had just waved his army towards the lab when a large mob of chimp-giraffes attacked from the factory base. Rex pulled the Eeri out to defend them but left the Crocobsters at the lab.
"Strike four." He reported to Lucy. He could hear the delight in her reply and it brought a smile to his lips. "Great work, Rex!"
Wolf was standing on a nearby rock pile and barked twice for Rex's attention. Quickly he ran over.
Just down the hill was the south-west corner of the factory base. Rex stared at the imposing concrete wall and the huge buildings, bristling all around with soundbeam towers. The huge shapes of the elephant-hornets still hung overhead, wings beating steadily.
Rex rested his hand on Wolf's neck. "We go."
Turning to his army, he punched the air. " We GOOOOOOO!" He yelled, and as a group, they charged.
An rival army of chimp-giraffes, elephant-hornets, camel-sharks, and ground-based gorilla-hornets charged back.
Roars, screams, howls, groans and snarls broke out as the two forces met. Rex tried to concentrate on the more powerful elephant crosses and the annoying chimp-giraffes first. But his army was reduced by a third by the time they defeated the last enemy creature. Three nearby soundbeam towers had been taken down but with every few steps his creatures took, they came in range of more. Rex split up his six remaining Crocobsters to tear down every tower they could find. The Eeri he kept with he and Wolf, electrifying the nearest factory. On the train track in front of it was the backbone of yet another lab, and Rex saw another almost three-quarters built, at the next factory.
They had taken down around half the base when Wolf signalled an urgent alarm, barking until the sound turned into rippling snarls. Rex scanned the area and nearly fell over backwards as a dozen enemy creatures the size of bulldozers approached from the east side of the base.
Elephant-ants. It didn't seem like it would be a dangerous combination until one was right in front of you, waving tree-sized claws. Rex roared at the Crocobster to regroup. The Eeri fired. The giant beats barely flinched at the wave of electricity. The Crocobsters hit and kept the beasts away from the ranged attackers. Rex loaded up a huge neurotoxin dose and fired. It didn't penetrate the burnished ant exoskeleton. Rex cursed. He ordered every Eeri he had to concentrate on one elephant-ant until it was dead then move on to the next.
He realized this group must have been sent down to the east to attack their base. When Julius realized Rex had already defeated all four of his labs and was attacking the factory, he had ordered them to return home to defend them.
It was a tough battle. They won, but Rex never would have believed his mighty army could have been reduced to a mere four Eeri, a single Crorocbtser, and he and Wolf.
"Lucy, whatever you've got, send them now. We ran into some resistance."
"Coming right up." Rex knew, however, the new creatures would take a few minutes to reach them. He concentrated on the final creature chamber and breathed a sigh of relief when they destroyed it before it could create another giant ant. An air chamber produced one of the hornet-elephants but between Rex and the Eeri it didn't amount to much. They started in on the air chamber. By the time that was taken down the new creatures had arrived and Rex started to feel confident again.
Nothing else in the base gave them much trouble. A relatively healthy Crocobster could easily dismantle a soundbeam tower on its own, and there were no more production structures still standing. For this Rex was thankful. He had never come so close to loosing before. The sun had lowered nearly to the ocean now and darkness was falling rapidly.
As they ripped into the second factory, the lab parked outside, still obviously unfinished, powered up and started along the train track. It managed to lift around ten feet into the air, uneven fans groaning and whining horribly. Then flames erupted from the left front fan and just as it got over the ocean, the lab nose-dived. There was a mighty splash and a lot of hissing as the fire was put out by the ocean waves.
Julius, standing on a plateau overlooking his factor, was outraged. "They destroyed my factory!" He cried in anguish. How had his brilliant plan gone so wrong?
"What are you going to do now, Mr Julius?" The white-coated man shuffled up behind him. Julius turned to him.
"Why, I need you to hold them off. Dr Ganglion!" He told him, as if it were obvious. Ganglion looked decidedly anxious.
"But Mr Julius, I am a doctor, not a combined creature strategist!" He protested feebly. Julius brushed him off impatiently. "Oh, show some backbone, uh, man. Rex Chance may have won a battle or two, but you know as well as I that he's already lost the war."